All A-twitter

I thought that freedom of speech means that anyone who feels compelled to express whatever is protected for doing so as long as the words do not slander or libel, pose a direct threat, or create a harmful situation that puts others in immediate danger. If a female athlete wants to tweet a racist joke, recipients have the right to deny a public reaction that validates the message. I know that in other countries, with other forms of government, public speech is both controlled and censored, but in America, we are supposed to have the right to speak our minds without fear of reprisal.

Thus, I'm not sure why the top echelon of Twitter people shut down accounts for people whom they deem have offended/upset/dismayed someone somewhere for something. I also don't understand why athletes are being kicked out of the Olympics based on their "inappropriate" tweets. Who decides what's inappropriate? If it were up to me, the 4-hour long, horrifically tedious and boring opening ceremony for this year's Olympics was inappropriate. I also think the skimpy "penis pouches" worn by male swimmers and divers are inappropriate. And, do we even need to hear yet another male commentator discuss the itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-bikinis worn by the women's volleyball players as if they are critiquing the new Playmate of the Month centerfold?

Sure, I'd think twice before I shared my personal pettiness with anyone outside my immediate circle of friends, but if a tweeter is willing to be judged by others for inappropriate thoughts, who am I to tell him/her not to send an ill-advised tweet? Obnoxious tweets speak volumes about the person who sends them and we more effectively deal with the individual by not providing feedback. It's the old "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, is there any sound" approach.

Today, verbal graffiti is spread through Twitter and text messages. If you get something you don't want, delete it, rather than send it to everyone on your friends' list. If you are appalled by a tweet or text message, chances are others also will be appalled, so spare them that experience!

If you send it on, you exacerbate the issue, rather than stopping it before it goes viral, and are, therefore, guilty as an accessory to poor decision-making.